Palestinian medical officials say one militant has been killed and at least 14 other Palestinians have been wounded during an overnight incursion by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza Strip.

Witnesses say the Palestinians were wounded after troops backed by at least 25 tanks and armed bulldozers and aircraft entered an area east of the town of Khan Younis.

They say the militant, from the Islamic Jihad movement, was killed in an Israeli air strike targeting a house where several Palestinians were meeting. Witnesses say the Israeli air force carried out at least two air strikes on the area.